My Genealogy Hound

RICHARD STEELE. For many years this gentleman was numbered among the upright, progressive and successful citizens of Seneca County, which in his death sustained a loss. He was a man of honorable character, strictly conscientious and upright in all his dealings, and known and respected for his probity and unflinching integrity. From 1830 until the time of his death, in 1879, he was a resident of this county, and during much of that time he made his home in the village of Romulus, where his widow still resides.

The subject of this sketch is a native of New Jersey and was born in Somerset County, November 1, 1817, being the son of Alexander and Nancy Steele. He was one of a family of nine children whose parents, being poor, had little to bestow upon them except the example of their upright lives. In early youth he learned the trade of a mason, and this he followed in New York City for a number of years, meeting with fair success in this vocation. About 1830 he accompanied his father to Seneca County and here purchased a farm, upon which he made his home for many years, being occupied principally as a tiller of the soil. About 1857 he removed to Romulus and bought a tract of thirty acres, continuing farming pursuits in this place. Considering the fact that he began in life without any capital, and that he was forced to make all he gained by hard work, his success was certainly commendable. His last years were spent at the home in Romulus, where his widow still lives, and here he closed his eyes in death January 31, 1879. His remains were interred in the cemetery in this village. Though he attained a very advanced age, he enjoyed almost to the last a remarkable vigor of mind and body, suffering little dimunition of physical or intellectual powers. It is said that he still had a full set of teeth at the time of his death.

The marriage of Mr. Steele united him with Mrs. Mary Fleming, a lady of estimable character, who became his wife in 1859. By her first marriage she had three children, of whom two died in infancy, and Edward is a farmer residing in Romulus. Her first husband, Asa Fleming, was reared on a farm in the town of Romulus, where he spent his entire life. Until 1851 he engaged in agricultural pursuits, but during that year he embarked in the mercantile business at Romulus, and continued in that occupation until his death, in 1855. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, which was also the religious belief of Mr. Steele. Two children came to bless the union of our subject and his wife, namely: John R., who is a mason by occupation; and Mary, wife of Henry Baker.